Embodiments of the present invention relate to a data processing system and method.
Typically, one processor within a multiprocessor system is assigned the task of implementing a protocol stack to support network communications via a network interface such as, for example, a network interface card (NIC). The single assigned processor services any NIC interrupts and also deals with passing the received data up through the protocol stack until it can be delivered to an appropriate application. The appropriate application might be executing on the same CPU as that used to realise the protocol stack or on a different CPU to that used to implement the protocol stack. In the latter case, the CPU that initially handled the NIC interrupt also passes the data extracted from the received packet to the appropriate application that is executing on the other CPU.